You may have seen–or maybe you’d like to see–the “Best of Honolulu Weekly” blurb proudly displayed at your favorite local restaurant, coffee bar or auto repair shop. As a consumer and an independent reader of an independent publication (Happy Independence Day, by the way), you’ve got the power to make a positive difference for local businesses and non-profits.

by Tiffany Hervey

A sea of red shirts emblazoned with “Public Park Land Not for Sale” flooded Honolulu Hale on Monday, June 25, for the City Council Budget Committee hearing of Resolution 12-143, which calls for “approving the sale of the Haleiwa Regional Park vacant parcels by sealed bidding between the two abutting property owners.” The bidders would be the Kamehameha Schools and the family of prospective Hotel Haleiwa developer Andy Anderson. The vacant parcels are 3.4 acres known to the community as Haleʻiwa Beach Park Mauka.

by Joan Conrow

The National Marine Fisheries Service is urging fishermen to quickly report hookings of endangered Hawaiian monk seals. The outreach follows a spate of recent hookings–eight so far this year, compared to nine in all of 2011–and the deaths of three seals.

The August 11 primary is getting close, and voters want to make an informed decision. What are voters looking for in a Democratic candidate for U.S.

by Wanda A. Adams

The hammer fell on the Hale’iwa Farmers Market Friday without even sufficient notice to allow farmers to cease harvesting or food vendors to cease prepping for the Sunday sale, much less to alert customers. For years, the market perched on a triangle of state land at Kamehameha and the Joseph P.

by Matthew Kain

On Friday, June 8, in what could be a knockout blow to hopes for food self-sufficiency in Hawaii, the State Land Use Commission (LUC) approved the 12,000-home development known as Hoopili. This decision followed the LUC’s approval of Castle & Cooke’s 5,000-home Koa Ridge development on Thursday.

by But things don’t have to go that way,” he argued (italics are his).

activist responds In an email letter to the Weekly Monday, June 11, Dr. Kioni Dudley, also a founder of Save Oʻahu Farmlands Alliance, wrote that, to him, and legally, the struggle isnʻt over.

by Joan Conrow

Pesticide REGs As the state moves to adopt a new, federally mandated permit system for using pesticides in and around waterways, some conservationists are questioning whether special-interest groups unduly influenced the rulemaking process. In the months leading up to the release of the draft rules, staff from various state agencies engaged in informal meetings with a working group comprising representatives of the Hawaii Farm Bureau, the Navy, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other pesticide users.

by Tiffany Hervey

Omidyar Fellows, a new program aimed at develop new local leaders, is recruiting 12-15 candidates for its inaugural class this fall. “Hopefully, we will get the next set of people running the DOE or the next CEO of Bank of Hawaii,” program director Kalei Stern said of the initiative, which seeks applicants early in their careers with at least five years of management-level experience.

Environmental advocates and farmers are cheering the release of $8.1 million in CIP funds for statewide water and energy upgrades. “These funds support my administration’s commitment to being responsible stewards of the environment, while also furthering the creation of local jobs as part of a sustainable economy,” said Governor Neil Abercrombie in a news release.

by Tom Coffman

News media coverage of the Hawaii Supreme Court arguments over native burials (iwi kupuna) captured none of the drama and little of the significance. Without advance publicity, the court room was packed.

by Matthew Kain

After much anticipation, Democratic U.S. Senate candidates Ed Case and U.S.

by Alia Wong

The U.S. Navy recently released an environmental impact statement (EIS) draft that, among other topics, outlines a range of sonar and explosives testing activities the Navy might conduct around Hawaii and off the coast of Southern California.

by Mindy Pennybacker

As if losing weight weren’t challenging enough, the formerly fat may have to conceal it in order to elude enduring stigma. Once-obese women who’ve slimmed down are viewed more negatively than those whose weight stayed the same, thin or not, according to a new study by Janet Latner, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at UH Manoa, and Kerry O’Brien, Ph.D., senior lecturer at University of Manchester, England.

by M.K.

On Wed., May 30, as firefighters battled brush fires on the Windward side, Honolulu Fire Chief Kenneth Silva was answering questions from reporters on another hot topic: why the nonprofit Honolulu Fire Department (HFD) Retirees Association has recently been barred from using Fire Department facilities where they’ve been meeting for years. Allegedly, the HFD and Hawaii Firefighters Association (HFFA)–which has endorsed Kirk Caldwell for mayor–excluded the kupuna group because of its recent endorsement of another candidate, former governor Ben Cayetano.

by Matthew Kain

The State Land Use Commission (LUC) was to make a decision on the proposed reclassification of 1,500 acres of agricultural land for the development known as Hoopili Tuesday, May 22. Instead, they delayed at the request of hopeful builder D.R.

by Joan Conrow

Lloyd “Ikaika” Pratt wasn’t surprised when the Hawaii Supreme Court recently decided that the state’s interest in managing parkland overrode Prattʻs right to practice his traditional religion. “It’s a bunch of BS,” said Pratt, who was convicted of camping without a permit in a closed area while caretaking a Kalalau Valley heiau in Kauai’s Na Pali Coast State Park.

by M.K.

With just a few months until the August primary, most of the Islands’ voting public knows that former Congressman Ed Case and current Congresswoman Mazie Hirono are vying for a Democratic run at the U.S. Senate.

by M.K.

In recent Circuit Court proceedings, the issue of Christopher Deedy–a state agent accused of murdering Kollin Elderts of Kailua on the eve of APEC–has resurfaced. But before any jury begins deliberating, the question of whether public filings by Deedy’s defense, including video footage of the altercation, should be viewable by the public.

by James Cave

Tanning parlors may seem redundant in Hawaii, but looking around, say, on the opening night of M, which replaced the Standard in Restaurant Row, you can see how those UV salons fill their beds. At M’s “rebranding party” May 17, it seemed like there wasn’t a single beautiful, plasticky orange-skinned person who stayed away.

by Mindy Pennybacker

Everything’s coming up mangoes. And last week, we joined the crowd at Foster Botanical Garden to witness the first-ever Honolulu blossoming of Amorphophallus titanium, nicknamed the “Corpse Flower” for its malodorous, fly-catching bouquet.

by Matthew Kain

Through the years there have been many mayors who’ve aspired to be governor, but for the first time in Honolulu ’s history, a former governor is running for mayor. At Honolulu Hale on Friday, May 18, as he signed the nomination paperwork making him an official candidate for the 2012 race, Cayetano told the room that, back in January, he made his decision quickly.

by Tom Coffman

Important back stories are huddled behind last week’s Star-Advertiser headline, “Federal Judge Narrows Lawsuit on Rail.” Foremost is that the lawsuit will go forward unimpeded. The same substantive points of contention including the most important historic and cultural sites are still at issue.

by Alia Wong

In announcing his support of same-sex marriage two weeks ago, President Barack Obama reinvigorated a vexed debate. Locally, the wrangle has been deadlocked following the contentious legalization of civil unions and subsequent federal court challenge in January.

Thailand grows 75 percent of the flowers used in Hawaiian-made lei, but a flooding in the country last fall destroyed 80 percent of its orchid crops, according to Summer Campos, co-founder of the Hawaiian Lei Company. Together with the graduation season and the growing popularity of lei on the mainland, “All lei prices have inflated due to the orchid shortage,” Campos says.

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